Personal agendas have no place in the fight against bullying

There are a lot of opinions out there about suicide rates, not all of them well informed. There seems to be a trend developing of "cherry picking" data from a few recent years to suit an agenda, something that happens all too frequently when issues gain a lot of attention. For those who insist the suicide rates are dropping or stable, especially in the 10 to 20 year old age group, try taking a longer perspective. The following facts are from The World Health Organization, gathered over the last 45 years:

Bullying Awareness Week and beyond

This week, students in Canada, Britain and the US are observing Bullying Awareness week. Schools across these countries will be participating in programs and activities to raise awareness about the epidemic of bullying in today's world. If your school isn't planning any activities, it's still not too late to get involved. There are many good groups and programs out there to choose from.

A cry in the dark

 A true story ...

"i cnt do this no more i wanna give up" 

The words leapt off the screen at me from my inbox. It was just another night up until then, puttering away on my blog, but this changed everything. What to do? I could have simply directed the person to one of the many resources on HNWS, but something about the message wouldn't allow me to do that. I responded with an offer to listen, and thus began a long night and part of the next day trying to help a complete stranger in desperate need of a friend.